PROGRAM

Welcome         Gert Johnson, Project Director

Our staff: Marni Gillard (storycoach), Gert Johnson (director), Paula Weiss (assistant director), Mary Murphy (storycoach)

Stories

Ben Russell (age 14, grade 8, Congregation Beth Shalom) “The Parakeet Named Dreidel” from Stories for Children by Isaac Bashevis Singer Daniel Bacchi (age 12, grade 7, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School) “A True Tale” from Small Miracles: Extraordinary Coincidences in Everyday Life by Yitta Halberstam & Judith Leventhal Adah Hetko (age 14, grade 9, Congregation Beth Shalom) “Serach”; from the retellings found in But God Remembered: Stories of Women from Creation to the Promised Land by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, and Jerusalem of Gold: Jewish Stories of the Enchanted City by Howard Schwartz Tim Everhardt (age 13, grade 7, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School) “The Chest of Broken Glass; A Classic Tale of the Ages” from Children’s Book of Virtues, edited by William J. Bennett and Michael Hague Nasibah Elmi (age 12, grade 7, An Nur School) “It Gave Birth”; a traditional Muslim tale Nimi Jayaraman (age 14, grade 9, The Hindu Temple Society) “The Airport”; a personal story

Story-sharing is a giant step on the path to making peace. (anon.)

Stretch Break

Kit Collins (age 12, grade 7, Congregation Berith Sholom) “The Magic Spoon” from The Jar of Fools: Eight Hannukah Stories from Chelm by Eric A. Kimmel Alaudeen Umar (age 12, grade 6, An Nur School) “The Power of Prophet Suliman”; from the Holy Quran, as retold in What Islam is all About by Yahiya Emerick Sarah Ali (Age 12, grade 7) “ ‘No’ is not an Option”; a personal story Nate Hoffmann (age 12, grade 7, B’Nai Sholom Reform Congregation) “Hovering Above the Pit”; from Chasidic Tales of the Holocaust by Yaffa Eliach Salma Barak (age 11, grade 6, An Nur School) “The Wisdom of Allah” from Beautiful Signs: A Treasury of Islamic Wisdom for Children and Parents by Ayat Jamilah Samantha Basile (age 14, grade 9, Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School) “The Good Samaritan” from the New Testament, Gospel of Luke, 10:29-37. Ilyssa Simsek (age 12, grade 6, B’Nai Sholom Reform Congregation) “Yonkel’s Visit to Warsaw” from One-Hundred-and-One Read-Aloud Jewish Stories by Barbara Diamond Goldin

Trust that story crosses over all boundaries for it speaks the language of the heart. (Allison Cox)

Closing Prayer

Hors-d’oeuvres and Human Treasure Hunt

Shri Rama Dance/Story: an eight minute presentation by Amoha Ramanath (age 10, 4th grade, The Hindu Temple Society)

Dinner with informal story sharing at table

With gratitude to NSN and our other supporters:

• Capital District Chapter of the Interfaith Alliance of New York State
  
• Capital Area Council of Churches
  
• Inter-faith Community of Schenectady
  
• United Methodist Women of SUMC
  
• The Albany Times Union
  
• The Daily Gazette
  
• The Jewish World
  
• The Evangelist
  
• An Nur Islamic School
  
• Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School
  
• The Hindu Temple Society of the Capital District
• The Community Coalition for Jewish Education; a department of the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York
  
• Mary Murphy and Marni Gillard, storytellers and storycoaches extraordinaire
  
• Kate Dudding and Joe Doolittle of The Story Circle of the Capital District
  
• Parents of Children at the Well participants
  
• Teachers of religion who attended our Teacher Workshops
  
• Alexander Weiss, Esq.
  
• Nancy Payne, Ann Snyder, Colette O’Dell
  
• Lynnwood Reformed Church
  
• Time-Warner Cable/ Ann Parillo / Schenectady Today Show
  
• The Commission for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany

Storytelling is a way for people to find common connections. Who can think of a better way to transform the future than by building bridges within the next generation? (Br. Muhammad Kabir)

This program assembled by Paula Weiss, Assistant Project Director.